On the Potomac, Change Comes to Alexandria’s Old Town

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On the waterfront in the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va.CreditCreditGabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

By Miranda S. Spivack

Aug. 23, 2016

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Near the Potomac River, blocks of Federal-style townhouses and commercial buildings still stand in this 267-year-old city. Alexandria’s Old Town district looks much as it did in the 19th century, though some modern touches have come gradually.

Fitzgerald’s Warehouse, which recalls the city’s seaport history and survived a 1827 fire that ravaged buildings nearby, has housed a Starbucks since 2003. The Torpedo Factory, built along the river and where armaments were made after World War I, is a city-owned artists’ center and popular tourist attraction.

Now, to the south, a boutique hotel, the Indigo, is under construction; groundbreaking is expected soon for a townhouse and condo complex next door.

The changes, coming fast after years of wrangling, are part of a city plan to revitalize about 16 city blocks on and around the waterfront, around eight miles south of Washington.

Some residents remain wary. The plans were first approved four years ago by the City Council and then approved again despite residents’ complaints that the projects were too modern and too dense for such a historic area. The townhouse and condo project still faces a lawsuit, and plans for another mixed-use project are being reassessed.

“We love Old Town and see it as a place to be for the long term,” said Austin Flajser, president of Carr Hospitality, the company behind the Indigo Hotel. “I think the history of Old Town is critical. That is what makes it a rich environment.”

Next to the hotel, at Robinson Landing, the developer EYA plans to replace one of two former Washington Post newsprint warehouse sites with housing and retail space. It plans to build 26 upscale townhouses of 2,000 to 2,800 square feet each, most with elevators; 70 apartment-style condominiums with 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and water views; and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

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William Euille, former mayor of Alexandria, Va., at what will become the new site of the Old Dominion Boat Club.CreditJustin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

About six blocks to the north, along the waterfront, CityInterests and Rooney Properties, development companies in the Washington metropolitan area, planned to build a hotel, condos and 25,000 square feet of commercial space, including up to four restaurants with outdoor seating, at Robinson Terminal North, now vacant.

Plans for the hotel were scuttled late last month; projects for that site are being reassessed after a lack of interest from hoteliers.

“We got caught in a hotel downdraft,” said James Jay Lee, president of Rooney Properties in Arlington, Va. “We will retune the mix.”

Mr. Lee said the area’s parks and access to the river made it appealing to developers, and noted that the north terminal is just a few blocks’ walk to King Street, the center of Old Town, and close to a Harris Teeter supermarket and a Trader Joe’s.

Despite the years of controversy and lawsuits surrounding the projects, Karl W. Moritz, the city’s planning director, is optimistic that the new developments will enhance the city and help pay for needed infrastructure improvements.

The expanded open space, he added, will benefit more than the immediate neighborhood.

“By replacing industrial buildings and parking lots with new parks, Alexandria can celebrate our history, reconnect our city to the river, significantly reduce flooding and provide residents and visitors new opportunities to enjoy themselves,” he said.

The city expects to build a $33 million flood control system topped by a 1,700-foot two-level walkway that will hug the shoreline and, officials hope, end frequent flooding from the Potomac. A $120 million landscape plan by Olin Studios will help unify the waterfront, though the city still must allocate about half the funds in its capital budget.

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Fitzgerald’s Warehouse, at South Union and King Streets in Alexandria, survived an 1827 fire. It now houses a Starbucks.CreditJustin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

The public works projects are expected to take about 10 years to complete; the commercial and residential development is expected to be completed in the next few years.

Plans for the waterfront also include a public pier and park on the site of the private Old Dominion Boat Club, which has occupied prime waterfront property since the early 20th century. The city has agreed to pay the club about $5 million to move a few blocks south. There, it will build a new clubhouse, a private pier and private parking, a valued commodity in Old Town’s narrow and congested streets.

A water taxi service, already in operation at a pier to the north, hopes to capitalize on business from National Harbor, a new development across the river in Maryland where a $1.3 billion MGM casino is expected to open by year’s end.

Robert Youngentob, president and a founder of EYA, based in Bethesda, Md., has been building in Alexandria for two decades. He said the city fits the company’s “life within walking distance” philosophy.

The waterfront neighborhood is about a mile and a half from the closest Metro subway stop, but a free shuttle bus, which looks like an early 20th-century trolley, runs along King Street, one of two main commercial streets that traverse the city.

Mr. Youngentob said the new residences would be priced similarly to homes in the surrounding area, where houses and condos can sell for more than $2 million. Commercial space in the area is about $25 to $50 a square foot; office space is around $35 a square foot, according to Tom Hulfish at McEnearney Associates.

William D. Euille, who pushed throughout his four terms as Alexandria’s mayor for extensive redevelopment of the 15.5-square-mile city, said the waterfront plan was one of the final pieces of the puzzle.

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Frank Poland, owner of Old Town Coffee, Tea and Spice, said he was “glad to see some of the empty old warehouses cleaned up” but was worried about potential displacement of local businesses.CreditJustin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

“Historically, the Alexandria waterfront had a great deal of industrial use,” said Mr. Euille, who grew up in public housing here. “Like many waterfronts, in recent decades, the city has been looking at ways to shift from industrial use toward access to the water and more park space.”

Mr. Euille’s support of redevelopment may have been his undoing. He was defeated for re-election last year by the vice mayor, Allison Silberberg, who moved to Alexandria in 1989. She opposed the waterfront redevelopment plan, expressing concerns about traffic and density.

“I believe in being careful and having development that fits in, and is to scale, and is respectful of the historic and special character of Old Town Alexandria,” Ms. Silberberg said. A majority on the City Council, however, back the development plans.

Longtime residents of Old Town are uncomfortable about the scale of the new buildings. “These are massive buildings that sit on the edge of exquisite small gems. And it cuts off the historic assemblage from the river,” said Kathryn Papp, who lives a few blocks from the river.

Hal Hardaway, an Old Town resident, has sued the city, saying it is allowing the EYA development to exceed the 50-foot height limit on Old Town buildings by two to five feet, changing the character of the area. The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to decide by the fall whether to take the case after lower court rulings found that Mr. Hardaway lacked standing to sue.

Mr. Youngentob acknowledged that the EYA buildings have “more contemporary elevations than some in the community may like,” but said the company aimed to be respectful of the city’s history.

Frank Poland, owner of Old Town Coffee, Tea and Spice, has been a mainstay in Old Town for 20 years. But a rent increase last winter forced him to consider going out of business. At the 11th hour, neighbors helped him find new space nearby, and he has signed a two-year lease.

“I am glad to see some of the empty old warehouses cleaned up,” he said. But he is worried about the potential displacement of small, local businesses. The most recent to leave was the quirky Why Not shop — a toy, book and craft emporium — which was an anchor on King Street for more than 40 years.

“We used to have a very strong identity,” Mr. Poland added. “This is a very historic town. But now, some people say that that is being abandoned to be trendy.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: On the Potomac, Change Comes to Alexandria’s Old Town. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe